Winner of View of the Trip
The main thing we needed to accomplish today was driving from Fairbanks to the Talkeetna area. Though it was several hours drive, we didn’t have a time crunch. We did push departure time a little earlier than planned, so we could take a drive through downtown Fairbanks. It is a blink-and-you-miss-it size of a downtown, and I am blaming the blinking on an attempted wrong-way turn.
After we left town, we stopped in Ester to see the Malemute Saloon. The neighboring bunkhouse used to be a lodging and dining spot (way further back, it was used by the gold miners). Carrie and her grandparents stayed there on their Alaskan trip while she was in junior high (which also prompted her junior high nickname of Moose). Les and Pat have also stayed there previously. It is in pretty rough shape now, and doesn’t look like it could host people any more.
From there, we drove to Nenana, which is the shell of a town now, but used to be the largest in Alaska, having over 5,000 residents during the Gold Rush era. There is still a lottery all over Alaska trying to pick the date when the ice breaks in the river in town. On our way out of town, we stopped in the visitor’s center and gift shop. The helpful person in the shop pointed us to the children’s book in the shop that her brother, the current mayor, had written. So, of course we picked one up.
Outside, there was a refreshment shack run by a cute boy. They had lemonade for donation only - the donations were for his college fund. Just below the window, a younger lad was selling rocks. Just rocks. I assume it was the same idea, so we purchased a couple, and made a nice college fund donation for some rhubarb-rose lemonade.
As we had entered town, we caught the sight of the next item on our list - Denali. From a distance it was impressive, and the weather was perfect, allowing viewing from far away. Often out here, visibility is such that you can not even see the highest peak in North America. We were extremely fortunate. We drove to the visitor’s center, and continued on the 19 miles you are allowed to drive in from the center. We got some great views and took some nice photos of the mountain. Carrie even finally got to see some wildlife today, as there was a caribou in the river just before we had to turn around and leave the park.
We continued toward our B&B for tonight, just across the river from Talkeetna, Mckinley View B&B. Wow, they didn’t lie - what an amazing view. There is a covered porch facing Denali, and we have a door leading right out onto the porch. If the mosquitos weren’t so bad, we could spend a lot of time out there.
After unloading, we went back up the road to grab dinner and fuel, then back to enjoy the acres of beauty facing the mountain. I made enough of a blood donation to the mosquito population, so I am back inside for the night.
